Family, diary, obsessions and ranting. There could be language and sometimes 'sexual' references. You have been warned.

Month: February 2016

It was a lovely day yesterday.
It was definately worth going to see Jurassic World and The Martian in IMAX.
I can see more and more time being spent in the IMAX over the next year!!
Thankfully the Unlimited Cinema Cards takes the sting out of the cost!
I just wish there was an IMAX a bit close to home.

Anyway, back to today.
The knee stood up well to a bit of a pounding yesterday although it feels a little stiff today.
Just need to take things careful over the next week and test it a little more each day.
The aim is to get back to work in a week but I have to get through Occupational Health first!

So, what’s the plan for today.
The dreaded garage.
That’s the plan for today.
Just as soon as Ian is up and about we are going to pootle around in the garage and Ian will be doing a few dump runs.
As Ian no longer uses the garage as a Man cave, the aim is to clear as much space as we can, give it a good sweep out and make it into a den for murron and her motor mates.
I will probably be throwing orders around more than anything as I don’t want to overdo it with the knee 2 days in a row.

Then tonight is Oscar night!
I plan to stay up to watch them, surprise, surprise.
I think I am going to be more nervous for Leo this year than any other year.
I know he deserves it.
He’s missed out so many times in the past.
However, I just feel that the Danish Girl is more of the Academy’s style of film and he could loose out to Eddie Redmayne!
Question is, would they give it to Eddie 2 years in a row?!

It’s going to be nail biting stuff and if Leo loses, how is he going to react and how mean will the press or the internet be?

I’m sure it’s been quite noticeable in the last week that I have been living in a fantasy world.
My life has been dedicated to movies and trawling the internet and all things Star Wars and Adam Driver and as much as I LOVE to do all that, I have been going a little stir crazy.

The reason has been because of forced rest because of a knee injury.
I’m happy to report that things are getting better.
I’m not in constant pain anymore. I only get the occasional tweek when I’m on uneaven surfaces or going up and down stairs.
My main issue now is that the knee feels quite unstable and I’m still using a walking stick if I go out for any reason.

As I have been going a little stir crazy, tomorrow is going to be a treat.
Stevenage Cinema are having a day of IMAX specials.
They are showing several films, back to back, that are no longer showing in the cinemas.
After seeing Star Wars in the IMAX a couple of weeks ago and being completely blown away by it, we are taking the opportunity to go and see two of our recent favourites.
Jurassic World and The Martian.
We are going to make a day of it and go out for breakfast first.
The films we have chosen are literally back to back so we will be walking out of one, doing a quick refresh and then walking straight into the next one.
We will be finishing the day off with dinner.

So, a nice day out doing what we love.
A day that’s not going to put too much pressure on my knee as I will be sitting through most of it, but it will be a test to see how my knee will cope with the little bit of walking I am going to have to do. It’s more than I’ve done in almost two weeks!

I recently read an incredibly long theory that included lots of back up material supporting the belief that Kylo Ren and Rey are actually brother and sister.
The more I read, the more I believed, and so far this is the only theory I think I am going to actually stick with.

Although I have to say we have nearly 2 years to wait to find out so I could conceivably change my mind at some point.

However, it was an incredibly long article. It took me an hour and a half to read it and now I can’t find the link to it.
I kept a word copy of it but as it has no reference to the original author, I won’t be posting it here.

However, I have since found this article by Maura O’Malley at bustle.com that puts the same theory down in simpler terms.

Since Star Wars: The Force Awakens hit theaters, everyone has been talking about how Rey might be Luke Skywalker’s daughter. Granted, there seems to be a lot of clues supporting this theory. But I am still holding out hope that Rey could be Han Solo and Leia Organa’s daughter. Why? Simple: This would make Rey and Kylo Ren siblings, and would raise the stakes for the future Star Wars films.

It was established in The Force Awakens that Kylo Ren was born Ben Solo, the son of Leia and Han. He was raised by his parents until he was sent to train with his uncle Luke and become a Jedi. At some point, Ben was seduced by the dark side and chose to embrace the teachings of Supreme Leader Snoke. His betrayal caused Luke to go into self-imposed exile and Han and Leia to break up. What remains left unanswered is what specifically caused Kylo to switch sides, and if (and how) Rey fits in to the story.

As it stands, at the end of The Force Awakens, Rey’s lineage is unexplained. It is clear that she is important — it’s just a matter of determining whether she fits into the Skywalker family. Is she Luke’s daughter, and thus Kylo Ren’s cousin? Or is she his sister, and the key to bringing their family back together? Personally, I firmly believe in the second theory.

In my opinion, the greatest clue that Ren and Rey are siblings is the way he reacts to her. When Ren first learns that “a girl” was seen helping BB-8 and Finn escape from Jakku, he becomes enraged. Like, “destroys the room with his lightsaber” enraged. And if you pay close attention, you see that he didn’t become upset by the fact the group eluded capture (he suspected that would happen). It was the fact they escaped with a girl. Considering the mention of “a girl” is such a minute detail, his reaction seems like a little much. This hints that Ren possibly knew that Rey was the girl from Jakku, and thus knew of her significance. He also reacts to strongly when he learns that Rey has escaped the First Order — he’s far angrier than when Poe escapes.

Time and again, Kylo Ren is seen losing his cool when it comes to Rey. Why would a character he supposedly just met have such an effect on him?

Furthermore, it’s fully possible that Ren knew that Rey was the girl from Jakku because he put her there. A major arc for him in The Force Awakens is his struggle between good and evil. He is questioned about his wavering allegiance by Snoke, and he is seen confiding in Darth Vader’s helmet about his inklings for good. These scenes imply that Ren’s greatest weakness is his family, and that he’s aware of this struggle. That’s why he kills his father, after all; it further distances him from his family, making him stronger (or so he believes). But what if Kylo Ren was never able to harm his younger sister?

In Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith, Anakin Skywalker is ordered to slaughter the Jedi “younglings.” The effect of this action was twofold: It cemented his allegiance to the dark side, and it wiped out the future generation of Jedi. It would make sense that Snoke would have Kylo Ren do the same. This theory is supported by Rey’s vision, which actually shows Kylo Ren surrounded by dead Jedi. If Rey was a student of Luke’s — and it would make sense that Han and Leia would send both of their children to receive training — she would have witnessed the killings. Since it was such a traumatic event, Rey could have repressed her memories of it, or perhaps even had her mind wiped of it. Also, since it has been shown that Ren has trouble controlling his emotions around his family, it would make sense that he would spare his sister’s life. Perhaps he placed her on a faraway planet, distancing himself from her but also allowing her to remain safe. Because as Leia says, “He still has light in him.”

The idea that Rey and Kylo Ren are siblings would drastically raise the stakes for the future films. In the original trilogy, Darth Vader continually tries to convince Luke to join him on the dark side. This is echoed in The Force Awakens in the scene between Han and Ren, when they are standing on the bridge. In both instances, the bond between a father and son is not strong enough to make the son switch sides. It would make an interesting point in subsequent films if Rey’s bond with Ren can help him overcome the allure of the dark side and rejoin his family in the light. This would make sense for siblings, but a bond between first cousins having this same impact seems unlikely.

So could it be possible that the reason Rey’s family never came back for her on Jakku was that they thought she was dead? And could it be that the reason Kylo Ren reacts so strongly to her is that she is the person he fears most in the galaxy? If this theory is correct, it would seem that the Skywalker family saga is only going to become more complicated … and I couldn’t be more excited.

I couldn’t agree more!!
I think I am going to go insane waiting for the next movie!!

OK, I am starting a new category.
It has become blatantly obvious to me over the last few weeks that I am not going to be able to forget about Star Wars for a long time!!

So, every time I write about Star Wars in any way, it will be categorised under Star Wars Musings.

I may be obsessed by Star Wars but I am not obsessed enough to sift through everything ever written/filmed to make up my own theories or speculations. If I did, I would be sat at this computer for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and then some!!
No, what you will see here are little snippits or theories or rumours that occasionally grab my attention and that I may add my own thinking to.

Wherever possible, I will quote my original source and give credit where credit is due.
If I miss something PLEASE let me know so that I can correct it.

To start, I am going to go through my posts since December and re-categorise anything that warrants the new title of Star Wars Musings, so please forgive me if the first 5 or 6 musings are out of order!.

Without spoiling anything for the rest of my UK readers who are watching the new X-Files on Ch5 at the moment, I have to say that today I watched episode 6, the finale to the series.

WTF!!

They can’t be seriously leaving it there!!
Why….why…why would they do that to us?
Bring back the classic duo.
Introduce a younger duo.
Tease us all with nods to the original series throughout, particularly with episode 3, and then……… WHAM!

This….this…. I’m just stunned.
I want to cry.

I DON’T want to believe…. that this is it.
This is truly the end.

But that’s the point isn’t it.
If it performs well on ratings and overseas sales it isn’t the end.
I can’t believe they left it with that ending if they weren’t at least preparing for the possibility of continuing.

Day 7 of forced rest and relaxation.
What to do? What to do?
All this time on my hands to do what I love the most.
Scour the internet, watch movies and…. oh yes!! all the time I need to obsess.
All this time on my hands has been the perfect oportunity to catch up on all things ‘Adam Driver’.

Back on December 26th, just 7 days after seeing Star Wars: The Force Awakens for the 1st time, I made Adam Driver my ‘Dish of the Week’ #64.
By the time I wrote that blog I had actually seen the film 3 times.

I can tell you almost to the minute, exactly when I fell in love with Adam Driver.
December 19th, and as the moment happens at about 1 hour and 25 minutes into the film, it would have been about 14:25 in the afternoon. How sad is that.
Here is the infamous scene.

At the time of writing this blog I have seen the film 9 times!
I have also seen more of Adam’s work prior to Star Wars and found out a little more about the man himself.
The more I find out or see, the more I crave to find more.

And there’s the magic word.
Crave = to desire intensely, to long for, to need urgently.

It’s true!! I just can’t get enough of the man.
He makes me smile. I love his acting style.
When I see his work prior to Star Wars, I see that being the Star Wars ‘villain’ is quite a new direction for him. I can’t wait to see how his story plays out across the next two movies.

I don’t think I can justify seeing it again in the cinema but I also don’t think I can wait for the Bluray, which I’m hoping, if rumours are true, will be around April time.

In the meantime HBO’s Girls season five started airing on Sunday so I am going to be drip fed Adam driver playing ‘Adam Sackler’ on a weekly basis for the next 10 – 12 weeks!

Next month sees the cinematic release of ‘Midnight Special’
Adam’s first movie release since Star Wars and it looks good.

He has two other movies in post production, Silence and Paterson.
Both are due at some point this year but as yet, there are no trailers for either which is a little frustrating.

So! I’ll just have to make do with re-running Girls on Prime and my quickly aquired DVD/Bluray collection.
I amazingly managed to pick up 5 of Adam’s back catalogue in HMV in their 5 for £30 deal.
I was a very happy bunny!

I can honestly say that next to Star Wars, This is where I leave You has to be my favourite Adam movie so far.

This movie is one of those gentle, heart warming and funny movies that you can just keep going back to.
The fact that Adam’s character is charming, childish and adorable just makes it even more special.

Anyway, enough about his acting.
How about a little about the man?

Like I said previously, he’s 32 and 6’2.5″
After 9/11 he enlisted as a Marine.
After serving in Afghanistan for 2 years, he had to be medically discharged after shattering his sternum in a mountain biking accident.

After a year of hard work at the University of Indianapolis, he got accepted into Juilliard.
He started TV work in 2009 and worked consistently with occasional roles on TV shows, shorts and TV movies and also worked on Broadway before landing his role on HBO’s Girls in 2012.
Since then, he has become ‘one to watch’.
‘Hungry Hearts’ is probably the film that has ‘showcased’ his talent the most so far.

He has very unconventional looks.
I have found from my internet searches that he’s a bit like Marmite.
People either love him or hate him!
The people who love him, quite literally worship the ground he walks on.
The people who hate him can be a bit mean.

He’s said it himself…..“I’m like a sight gag, I have this really big face…I don’t totally get it. I mean, when I read for Girls (2012) I was, like, the script says ‘Handsome Carpenter,’ so someone else is going to get the part. They’ll have someone handsome, not me. I mean, I’m not in any danger of getting leading-man parts.

Well I’m sorry to disappoint you Adam, but you’re wrong.
You’re tall, you’re well built, you have an incredible main of thick black hair, you have a beautiful voice.
OK, you have big ears and a long nose but it all comes together to create an awkward, yet endearing and loveable man who seriously needs to have more confidence in himself.

Adam is married.
In 2013 he married actress and best friend Joanne Tucker.

To honor, educate, inspire and entertain all active duty and veteran members of the United States Armed Forces and their families by engaging them in the power and social service of the performing arts.

Take a look at some of the work they do here…..

I think he truly is ‘one to watch’
I will certainly be keeping up with everything he does from now on.
I’m happy to declare Adam Driver as Dish of the Week number 66.
This makes it his second appearance on my Dish list but I’m sure there will be more.
Probably around the releases of the next two Star Wars episodes…… Oh who am I kidding…. probably around the release of all his future films!!!

OK, I am now on day 6 of a forced rest and relaxation couple of weeks.
I’m going a little stir crazy!
I took a little hobble around Tesco yesterday with crutches and ended up regretting it.
My knee gave out on me again!!
Just when I think things are getting better, some unseen little sadist rams a knife into the back of my knee and then twists it for extra effect!!
So the afternoon was spent watching movies with my feet up.

Last night Dharma managed to injure her knee when she misjudged the distance she had to her bed when getting onto it.
Didn’t think much to it until this morning after Ian had gone to work.
She’s got some swelling, a nice bruise starting and she can’t walk!!
I can’t get her to the hospital because of my current injury, so she’s resting and icing it for the day and if necessary, she’ll have to go to the hospital with Ian when he gets in from work.

Great!!
The school are going to be down my neck again soon because of all the time off she’s had recently.
I can’t win!!